


At Your Service

by CloseEnoughCosplay



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Anxiety Disorder, Fluff, Love, M/M, Psychiatric Service Dog, Service Dogs
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-12-06
Updated: 2017-06-27
Packaged: 2018-09-06 23:51:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 9,060
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8774593
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CloseEnoughCosplay/pseuds/CloseEnoughCosplay
Summary: When Asahi first brought his service dog home, so many worries filled his mind. Will people be treating him differently? Will people think it is stupid that he got a service dog for his anxiety? How is the team going to react to the dog being with him? With help from Noya and a dog named Nishi, Asahi can learn to overcome the fears that plague his life (some of them anyway) and have a better outlook on life.





	1. Late Night Panic

**Author's Note:**

> Yes, there is such a thing as a psychiatric service dog. No, it is not the same as an ESA or a therapy dog. I will leave a link where you can read up on the differences. You can also message me if you have questions :) Enjoy!  
> http://www.servicedogcentral.org/content/node/76

_He didn’t know where he was, yet he knew he had been here before. He was surrounded by mirrors. They all reflected his face back at him, but he knew that it was not meant to be a kind gesture. They remind him of what he has done, of what he has yet to do. They remind him of the tests he’s failed, the things people have said about him, the irrational things his mind has said that he constantly believes despite knowing that the thoughts aren’t true. As the mirrors begin to close in on him, words are heard overhead, words he has heard time and time again that will always cause him to succumb to the fear within.  
_  
 _“You are such a failure!”  
_  
 _“Why can’t you do one damn thing right?!”  
_  
 _“You are worthless to all who know you.”  
_  
 _“Look at you! So pathetic. Quit making people pity you.”  
_  
 _“You are not worthy of friends. They know how useless you are.”  
_  
 _“You don’t deserve the love your boyfriend gives you. Even he knows that you are a waste of time and space.”  
_  
 _“Failure! Worthless! Nothing!”  
_  
 _“You are nothing!”  
_  
 _The words get louder and louder as the mirrors pin his arms to his sides and tighten around him. He can’t breathe. The room turns dark to where nothing can be seen, but he knows that the fear is still there. He wants to scream, but the panic has sucked any sound out of him. He wanted to run, but he was trapped. He can’t escape. There is no escape...  
  
_ Asahi’s eyes snapped open to stare at the wall in front of him. Moonlight painted a soft glow on the wall as if to remind him that he was back in reality. It was just a nightmare, he knew that, but his mind was already locked in panic mode. The panic always evades the dream world and tears him apart. He slowly sat up and hugged his knees to his chest. His long brown hair fell to either side of his arms as he began shaking. He couldn’t breathe, his heart was pounding, his chest was uncomfortably tight. Tears came to his eyes and fell down his face as the overwhelming fear continued to consume him. It was nights like this that made him feel like that he was so alone, that no one cared about him. Nights like this reminded him of how he is such a screw-up and so unlike everyone he knew.  
  
He reached over to his phone that sat on the nightstand and looked at the time. It was 3 a.m. Should he really call at this hour? Noya said that he needed to call anytime he needed help, but it was 3 a.m. on a school night. Noya is probably sleeping. He needs the extra sleep since he works so hard on the court. Today had been a particularly difficult practice for everyone, and knowing that made Asahi feel that much more guilty about even considering calling his boyfriend. Despite his mind saying no, his fingers dialed the number, and his hand brought the phone to his ear. He tried to swallow back tears as the phone gave him the dreadful tone of waiting. Just as he was about to hang up, he heard a familiar sleepy voice. __  


“Hello?”  
  
“Hey…..” Damn it. He could hear the tears in his own voice, so Noya was bound to hear it too. He hugged his knees tighter to his chest and pressed his face into his knees.  
  
“Asahi, babe, what’s going on? Are you okay?”  
  
“Noya…it happened again…”  
  
“Nightmare?”  
  
“Yes…”

He heard the rustling of sheets as the other quickly sat up. “Was it the same one you’ve been having?”  
  
“Yes...” Asahi bit hard at his lip in a vain attempt to get his voice to stop shaking. The panic combined with the immense guilt of calling so early in the morning was eating away at him.

“Babe, listen to me. It’s alright now. It was just a nightmare. You know none of it is true.”  
  
“I know none of it is true, but I still believe it,” He tried to stop the words that were about to come pouring out, but the words came out hard and fast before he could even think of what he was saying, “I am worthless, I am not worthy of love, I am just pathetic. The dream is always right! It always is, Noya!” 

It was then that his breathing became very shallow and rapid. His heart was slamming up into his throat to try and escape the tight confines of his chest. He leaned his head back against the headboard to try to breathe in more air, but even the cool air entering his lungs would not calm the storm raging in his mind and body. He started to gasp as he felt his throat tighten. Breathing felt nearly impossible.

Noya’s worry shot up when he heard the shallow breathing, but hearing the gasping confirmed to him that the panic attack had taken over his ace. “Asahi, breathe. Take deep breaths. You know breathing faster will make it worse.”

“Help me…..please, Noya…..I can’t…..”

“Just listen to my voice, Asahi. Inhale for me.”

The older one closed his eyes and forced a breath past the tightness in his throat.

“Good. Hold it. 1…2…3…4….”

Asahi forced himself to turn his focus to Noya’s voice and mentally counted along with him. Focus on Noya. Focus on Noya. 1…2…3…4…

“Now exhale.”

He released his breath as a hard sigh. “Good, babe. That was great. Let’s do it again. Ready? Inhale.”

Asahi still had to force the inhale in, but it wasn’t as difficult as the first breath was.

“Hold it. 1…2…3…4…”

Focus on Noya. Focus on Noya. Feel the panic start to edge away.

“Exhale.”

His breath was not as forced this time, and he was starting to feel a little relaxed.

“Great job, babe. You got this.”

Noya repeated this same mantra five more times. With each repeat, each inhale became easier, each exhale became softer. The younger one’s smile grew when he finally heard his love’s breathing return to a normal rhythm. Asahi did it; he fought panic and won.

“That was fantastic, Asahi. You did great. How are you feeling now?”

Asahi blushed and gave a soft smile at the praise as he released the tight hold he had on his knees and sat cross-legged on the bed. “Not amazing, but not as bad as I was before.”

“Good. I’m glad.”

He ran a hand through his hair as he felt the guilt wash over him again. “I’m so sorry for waking you up at this hour…I know you are tired from practice.”

“Asahi, what did I tell you about calling me?”

He sighed, recognizing the almost lecture tone in Noya’s voice, and responded back in a knowing tone, “That I can call you anytime I need you.”

“That’s right, and that especially includes times like this. I know how badly these panic attacks affect you, and I want to help you every way that I can.”

The ace turned his head to look out the window at the starry sky and full moon. “I appreciate you so much, Noya. You somehow put up with me even when I am being so pathetic like I am now.”

He heard Noya laughing softly. “Silly Asahi. I put up with you because I love you. You are not pathetic. Your brain is just a douche canoe for being like this to you. Which reminds me. You are bringing her home soon, right?

“This Saturday.”

“Awesome. Two days from now. Are you excited about it?”

Asahi gave an unconscious nod. “I am so nervous, but I look forward to our life together.”

“I am so excited for her to come home. She will help you so much, probably even more so than I can.”

Asahi’s eyes widened with fleeting panic. “I’ll still need you though! I won’t replace you with her! Please don’t think like that.”

Noya responded gently yet firmly, “Asahi, I am not thinking that way at all. Tell your anxiety to pipe the fuck down.” Asahi sighed with relief. Jumping to conclusions is what his brain does best. “See, this is why you need this service dog in your life. She will be able to help you constantly, and I just know that she will be great for you. Then again, she should be great for you since she has the coolest name ever.”

“Of course you like her name. It is the first part of your name.”

“I mean, it is a cool name. Nishi? The coolest! My boyfriend deserves a service dog with an awesome name like that.”

Asahi gave a soft laugh. Noya was such a dork, but he was his dork. “I love you, Nishinoya.”

It didn’t matter that they had been together for a year and half and have said those words to each other many times, it still made Noya’s heart flutter when he hears those words. “There’s the ace that I know. I love you too, Asahi. Never ever forget that.”

“I mean, how can I? I’ll have a dog that practically has the same name. She will be a constant reminder.”

“Oh! Oh I see how it is! You’ve always forgotten of my love before Nishi. I get it now. I feel so not loved.” Asahi couldn’t help but laugh at the mock insulted voice for a moment until his mind decided to think that maybe Noya was serious and didn’t actually feel loved.

“Noya!” The panic was clear in his voice. May day. May day.

“Babe, I’m kidding. You know that, right?”

“I know, I know.”

Noya laughed again. Crisis averted. “I love you, baby. Now get some sleep. You are probably worn out by now.”

Asahi gave a soft smile as he moved to lay on his back and look up to the ceiling. “You know me so well.”

“I better by now. We’ve been together for a year and a half. If I didn’t know you at this point, I would be concerned.”

“Who are you again?”

“I feel so loved right now, Asahi.”

He gave a laugh. “I love you too, Noya. Thank you so much.”

“Anything for the love of my life that apparently doesn’t love me back.” He heard laughter from the ace and couldn’t help but laugh back, “Sleep well, and have much better dreams.”

“I’ll try. Good night.”

“Good night.”

Asahi pressed the button to hang up, place his phone back on the nightstand, and looked back up to the ceiling. He could feel his heart beating normally, his breathing was back to normal, and his chest was much more relaxed. He couldn’t help but smile as he pulled the blanket back over himself and turned onto his side. Noya is the best thing to ever happen to him, and he is so grateful for everything he does. He has been supportive of Asahi’s decision to get a service dog, and that has made him feel even more sure that he made the right choice.

At first, Asahi was scared to tell anyone. Of course, his parents knew about Nishi and supported their son’s decision, but he was so scared to tell Noya about the dog. Nishi had been in training ever since Asahi was a first year, and he didn’t tell Noya about her until a year into their relationship. At that point, Asahi was sure that he could completely trust Noya and that he wouldn’t be deterred by his mental disorder.

He remembered taking Noya to dinner one night to tell him about Nishi. He nearly had a panic attack right there in the middle of the restaurant as he explained about Nishi, what she does, and how she will help him. His words came out fast and panicked; it didn’t really help that Noya just stared at him as he spoke. When he was done talking, there was silence. He knew that the libero was processing everything that had been said, but it didn’t stop his anxiety from flooding his mind with questions. What was Noya thinking? Did he think this was stupid? Was he regretting ever being with him? What if he wanted to break up over this?

Asahi went for the bathroom in panic, but Noya had grabbed his hand right as he stood up. He turned around, his eyes wide with fear. It was then that the smaller boy stood up and hugged Asahi close, not caring that others were turning to stare at them. He hugged him back, but he was still in fear of what Noya’s thoughts were and now had the added embarrassment of customers staring at the couple. Was Noya mad that he was not told earlier? Was this going to be goodbye forever? Why is he not speaking? What Noya said next stuck with Asahi to this day:

“Thank you for telling me about this. I’m so happy for you, and I will always support you. I love you so much. You are much braver than you think you are. Never forget that.”

These words comforted the ace as he started to fall asleep again. It was at that moment that he knew that he was loved and supported. He had absolute confidence in Noya’s love even on days when his brain challenges that love. With Noya’s love and soon Nishi’s support, Asahi felt that he would be able to do anything. With these thoughts in mind, he went back to sleep and had wonderful dreams of both boyfriend and dog.


	2. 'Twas the Night Before Getting Nishi

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Thank you guys so much for all the love! I am glad you are liking this story.

Time was going too fast for Asahi as Thursday morning quickly became Friday afternoon. Before he knew it, he was at practice with the rest of the Karasuno crows. He normally did well at practice, but today he was off his game. Spikes he could usually hit flew past him before he realized that they existed. His blocks were weaker and caused balls to fly past his hands and crashing to the floor. Even his serves never managed to get past the net. These mistakes did not help his already shaky nerves, and of course getting yelled at by Daichi for his simple mistakes was shooting his anxiety through the roof despite Takeda trying to cool the situation by giving Asahi positive remarks. This anxiety was causing him to get paranoid about what everyone was thinking about him, so he glanced at the other teammates to try to gauge what they were thinking. 

At first glance, it appeared like no one was really noticing his mistakes, but his anxious mind was telling him otherwise. Daichi was standing on the sideline with Ukai and talking about something that was drowned out by the sounds of bouncing balls and yells; they must be talking about Asahi and how terrible he is today. Suga and Kageyama were busy with setting balls to spikers. Kageyama had his usual serious face, but Suga had a look of concern when he made eye contact with the ace. They must be thinking that he was so pathetic for missing the simplest spikes. Tanaka, Tsukki, and Hinata were all working on the spikes that Suga and Kageyama set to them. Tanaka and Hinata were being their normal exuberant selves, and Tsukki was his normal serious self; Tanaka must be wondering how Noya can be dating someone so useless, and the two first years must be thinking that he was the worst senpai in the entire world. In a corner, Yamaguchi was throwing balls to Noya so he could work on his signature Rolling Thunder move; Yamaguchi must be thinking how lame Asahi is, and Noya must be thinking that he is the worst boyfriend ever. If anyone knew that these thoughts were going through Asahi’s head, they would think that he was insane for even thinking these terrible things. He even thought he was insane at times. He knew it didn’t make any sense to think that people thought horribly about him, but he believed what his mind said anyway. The reality it presented to him was far too convincing.

The main reason why he was so distracted during practice was because he was thinking of Nishi. He goes to get her tomorrow. His life will change tomorrow. What everyone thinks of him will change tomorrow. He was scared about losing friends over Nishi. Even more so, he was absolutely terrified about how the team would think of him. Ukai, Takeda, and Kiyoko all knew about Nishi, so that wasn’t too concerning. Suga and Noya were the only team members who knew about Nishi, so he was worried about how the others would react. Sure, he probably should have told Daichi too since they along with Suga have been best friends since middle school, but Asahi never liked to bring her up around him. When he first even mentioned having worrying thoughts that bothered him, Daichi pretty much brushed him off and told him that he was just stressed like anyone else. Anytime Asahi would have a panic attack around them, Daichi would say that he was a ridiculous goofball. In short, Daichi never took his anxiety seriously. On the other hand, Suga believed him from the start and would always offer to help him. Asahi felt that he could open up more to Suga because he actually took his mental illness seriously. Before he started dating Noya, Suga would be the one that he would turn to when panic attacks got bad or his mind would not shut up about some stupid thought. He felt so guilty about always relying on Suga for help, but the silver-haired one never seemed to be bothered at all. In fact, he would constantly remind Asahi that he was not bothering him and that he was always there when needed. Even though he now mainly got help from Noya, he still would turn to Suga from time to time. 

It never hit him that he was completely zoning out until, well, it did. Reality came flying at him in the form of a ball of white leather that shot from one end of the court to Asahi’s forehead. He gave a shout and fell back onto his butt, confused about what was going on. As he came back into reality, his face turned dark red, and his stomach sank into the floor. Everyone was staring at him. His heart went into overdrive, and his mind was suddenly a flurry of thoughts that were all trying to rush out at once. Stupid! Idiot! Look what you did now! So stupid! 

“I’m sorry! So sorry!” He blurted as he tried to stand up quickly, but Suga ran up to him and grabbed his arm.

“Get up slowly, Asahi. You took a pretty good hit.”

He did as the older one said and stood slowly, his head starting to pound a little. Hinata was looking quite frantic as he ran towards the ace, fell to his knees, and started bowing repeatedly.

“I am sorry, Asahi-senpai! I didn’t mean to hit you in the head! Please don’t be mad!”

Kageyama scoffed, “You should have been watching where you were hitting it, dumb-ass.”

Asahi could not have blushed any darker at the sight of the smaller boy bowing to him, “No, no. It’s fine, Hinata. You didn’t mean to hit me. I should have been paying attention anyway.”

“You really should have been,” Daichi said as he stepped over to the two third years, “What has gotten into you today, Asahi? This isn’t like you at all to mess up this bad.”

“I’m sorry, Daichi. It just hasn’t been a good day for me.”

“What? Did you forget to hold a door open for someone or something?”

Suga gave a look to Daichi that was along the lines of ‘shut the hell up’, “Stop, Daichi. You are not helping at all.”

The two seemed to have a stare-off for a moment before Daichi finally nodded, grabbed Hinata by the collar, and returned to practicing. Suga gave a sigh before looking to Asahi, “Are you going to be okay?”

Asahi knew what Suga meant, but he gave a nod. “I’ll be fine.”

Suga gave him the look of ‘I know you’re lying’, but he nodded as well. “Go sit and take a breather. Your head probably does not feel good after such a hit.”

“Don’t worry about me, Suga. I have a pretty hard head anyway.”

“No, Asahi, that would be Daichi. Daichi has a much harder head than you.”

Asahi couldn’t help but laugh. “This is true. Hey, I’m going to step out to the bathroom for a second. I’ll be back.”

“Don’t drown.”

“No promises.”

Suga rolled his eyes with a laugh as he went back to what he was doing. Asahi walked to the bathroom, locked himself in a stall, and finally had that moment to succumb to the panic attack that was washing over him. What just happened was super embarrassing. Now everyone must think that he is a complete idiot who doesn’t know crap about volleyball. He sank to the floor and grabbed his head, shaking as his heart tried to escape him. He closed his eyes and about started to cry when he heard the bathroom door open. He bit his lip to try and steady his breathing as he watched a pair of feet walk in and face his stall. There was soon knocking on the stall door.

“Asahi, are you okay?” It was Noya’s voice. Shit.

“I’m fine.”

“No, you’re not.”

“My head is fine.”

“You know that’s not what I am talking about. Open the door.”

Sometimes, Asahi didn’t like that Noya could tell when he wasn’t doing good, but deep down he was happy about it because it meant the libero cared so much about him and didn’t want to see him hurt. He slowly reached up to slide open the lock to the stall door and gently push it open. He looked up to Noya’s concerned expression; his eyes followed the smaller one as he knelt in front of him and gently took his face in his hands.

“Asahi, are you okay? Don’t try to lie to me.”

“Is it obvious that I’m not?”

“Very. Between getting hit with a ball, Hinata freaking out, and Daichi chewing you out in front of the entire team, I know you are not a very happy camper,” Noya scooted closer until he was between Asahi’s legs so he could bring the ace’s head to his chest and rub his back, “What’s on your mind? You aren’t being yourself today.”

Asahi hugged Noya close to him and turned his head to rest his ear against the other’s chest and listen to his heartbeat. “I was thinking about Nishi.”

“You have nothing to worry about with her, babe. Remember, you need her, and she needs you. Things will change, but it will change for the better for you.” Noya kissed Asahi on the head. Asahi smiled and was about to respond when they heard a voice yelling to them.

“Stop making out in there and get back in here!”

Noya rolled his eyes, recognizing Tanaka’s voice. “We’ll get there when we get there, asshole.”

“Well you better hurry or else you both will be running laps. Daichi said so.” With that, the door shut, and the bathroom was silent once again. 

Asahi gave a sigh and stood up, picking up Noya with him so the other was back on his feet. “We better get back to practice. I really don’t want to run laps.”

Noya nodded, “Same here. Are you going to be okay?”

“I’ll be fine.”

“Alright then.”

As the two walked out of the bathroom, Asahi suddenly remembered something and turned to Noya. “Hey, if you wanted to, you could spend the night with me tonight and come with me and my parents to pick up Nishi tomorrow.”

Noya’s eyes lit up in excitement. “Really?! I can?!”

“Why would I be asking you if you couldn’t?”

Noya couldn’t help but bounce on his feet slightly in excitement. “This is so awesome! Yes, I want to spend the night and come with you! A million times yes!”

Asahi laughed at the adorableness that is his boyfriend and kissed his cheek. “I’ll walk you home so you can get your things, and we can head to my house from there.”

“This is going to be awesome!” Noya grabbed Asahi’s face, pulled it down, and gave him a long kiss on the lips before running back out onto the court. Asahi smiled as he too ran out to continue practice.

~~~

That night, the two boys lay snuggled on Asahi’s bed while watching a movie. Noya was seated between Asahi’s legs with his back leaned on the other’s chest while Asahi had his back to the headboard and his arms around Noya. They were watching some comedy movie that had come on TV. Noya had Asahi’s hands in his own and would grip them a little tighter when he would laugh at the funny parts. Asahi would give a soft smile with Noya’s laughter, but he wasn’t really paying attention to the movie. 

His thoughts were rotating between what had happened at practice that day and what would happen tomorrow when he went to get Nishi. He kept thinking about how stupid he was and how he can’t ever show his face at practice again even though he knew that was impossible to do. He thought about Daichi and unconsciously gripped Noya tighter as he worried about what Daichi would think about Nishi. He soon noticed that the movie was no longer playing. He looked to see that Noya had completely turned around to face him.

Asahi cocked his head in confusion, “Weren’t you wanting to watch that movie?”

His eyes locked with Noya’s dark eyes as the other spoke, “How can I when I know that my boyfriend is in a worry frenzy?”

“I’m not in a worry frenzy.”

Noya gave a ‘bullshit’ look. “Asahi, your thoughts are ringing throughout the room with how loud they are. You’re ruminating about what happened today.”

“Get out of my head, Noya.”

“Nope. It is my job to invade your personal head space and help you out of the ocean of thoughts your brain likes to drown you in.”

Asahi sighed and tried to look away, not wanting to talk about it. He then felt hands gently grab his jawbones and lift his head back up to meet the smaller boy’s eyes.

“Asahi, please. Let me help you.”

He then bowed his head to rest on Noya’s shoulder as the younger boy began to run his hands through Asahi’s long hair that was still damp from his shower. “It isn’t just about what happened today. I’m so scared about what everyone will think of Nishi when she comes to school with me. I’m scared that the team will think differently of me and not want me around anymore. I’m scared that Daichi will not want to be friends with me anymore when I have Nishi. He already doesn’t take my anxiety seriously; just imagine how much of a laugh he will have when he realizes that Nishi is a service dog.”

“I know you will hate me for saying this, but you don’t need to worry what other people think. What they will think is completely out of your control.”

“I know I don’t need to worry, and I know it is out of my control.”

“But you can’t help thinking about it. Your mind goes on a thinking rampage whether you want it to or not.”

Asahi sighed and moved so that he could lay on his back with Noya on top of him, “How do you know my mind this well? It’s almost scary.”

Noya laughed softly and gave Asahi a kiss on the forehead, “I have known you for a very long time, and some of these things have been things you’ve said to me.”

Asahi cocked his head and raised his eyebrow in confusion, “I have? I don’t remember saying anything about a thinking rampage.”

“Okay, so you may not have exactly said the words ‘thinking rampage’, but I know for sure that you have compared your thoughts to being like you are drowning in the ocean.”

“Okay, yeah, that does sound like something I would say.”

“I told you that I know you.” Noya gave an all-knowing grin. Asahi laughed softly and rolled his eyes.

“Shut up, Yuu.”

“Make me, Azumane.”

Asahi grabbed the back of Noya’s head and gently pulled him down for a kiss. The feeling of Noya’s lips press back against his own made the rampaging thoughts go silent. For a moment, what others would think about him and even worries over Nishi were completely paused by this wonderful moment of warm, soft lips pressing each lip then both together. He had no idea how, but somehow Noya could make everything seem like it would be alright. Somehow, the flood of thoughts and worries could be stopped by something as simple as a kiss from the one he loved, and this made him happy. He smiled into the kiss and pressed their lips together once more before he pulled back to look into Noya’s eyes.

“I love you, Noya. I don’t know how, but even just a kiss from you can stop these thoughts from running.”

Noya gave a laugh and pressed another kiss to Asahi’s lips, “I love you too, Asahi. If I had known it was that easy to shut your brain up, I would be making out with you every chance I get.”

This made Asahi laugh, “I don’t think that would be possible to make out all the time, though I wouldn’t complain.”

“I didn’t think you would,” Noya gave another laugh and another kiss before moving to lay next to Asahi, “We should probably get to sleep. We have to get up early to get to Tokyo.”

Asahi moved to rest his head on Noya’s chest and couldn’t help but give it a kiss, “I mean, we can always sleep in the car too.”

“Which we probably will.”

He laughed and turned his ear to listen to Noya's heartbeat, “I love you. Goodnight.”

Noya kissed Asahi’s head and held him close to his small frame, “I love you too. Goodnight. Have sweet dreams.”

With that, both boys were soon sound asleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I apologize for this chapter being late. There is good reason as to why: I finally got my service dog prospect! His name is Emeril, he turned 10 weeks old as of today, and he has been taking my time and energy. Lol. A lot of this chapter was written as he napped. Again, thank you so much for your patience, love, and support. See you in Chapter 3!


	3. Bringing a Dream to Life

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Thank you guys so much for the love! I apologize for not updating in MONTHS. This time, life and Emeril being 8 months old happened. Thanks for putting up with me, and see you in Chapter 4!

_He was standing in the middle of a field. The sun shone bright and warm above him. Green grass, purple violets, and pink sakurasous swayed in the gentle breeze. A ring of trees, tall and strong, surrounded the area. This place was a happy place for him. Here, he felt safe and at peace. He felt like he was protected from whatever life could throw at him. More importantly, he felt like himself._

_Soon, a dark shadow cast over him and the field. He looked up to see a black storm cloud heading towards him. Lightning bolts struck the ground and caused a loud cracking sound to reverberate. The tension in the air was suffocating. As the cloud came closer, the voices from many previous dreams that told him of his failures got louder and louder. He covered his ears with his hands, desperate for the voices to stop. “Please,” he cried out, “Leave me alone!” In reply, he got dark laughter. He closed his eyes and knelt to the ground in fear, knowing that the panic was about to consume him yet again._

_“Asahi! Come here!”_

_He opened his eyes and uncovered his ears. That voice sounded familiar._

_“Asahi! Get up! Come on! We’re waiting on you.”_

_He turned to see the other side of the field. It remained bright and colorful. The storm cloud appeared to not go near that area. Standing in the brightness of the sun was a boy and a black dog. The boy had hair that was spiked up to where it appeared to be holding up the sun. He had his hands on his hips and a smile on his face. “I’m talking to you, Asahi. Come on! Nishi and I are waiting.”_

_He smiled and quickly got to his feet. The two loves of his life, Noya and Nishi, were standing in the sunlight. Noya had a grin on his face that made the sun look dim in comparison, and Nishi’s tail was wagging hard enough to produce its own wind. Seeing the boy and the dog on the other side of the field filled his heart with joy and determination. He looked back to the dark storm cloud that was moving fast across the field and gave a challenging smile.  
“You can’t get me! You won’t stop me! Back off!”_

_He then took off running in the direction of his boyfriend and dog. There was no way the panic would get him now. He had the support and love of Nishi and Noya to light his life. The darkness couldn’t get him with these two here. Noya continued to call for him as he ran to them. “Asahi. Asahi. Asahi…”_

“Asahi. Asahi, babe, wake up.”

The third year slowly opened his eyes in response to be shaken and having his name called over and over. He blinked in confusion as he looked over to the smaller second year that was pushing him. “Was I asleep?”

“Yes, Asahi. You’ve been asleep for a while now.”

“How long is a while?”

“About two hours.”

“How long have you been awake for?”

“About thirty minutes.”

“Why didn’t you wake me earlier? I’m sorry that I didn’t wake up with you.”

Noya laughed at the apology. “There’s no reason to apologize. I know you didn’t sleep well last night. Besides, you looked like you were having a good dream. It must have been nice seeing that you didn’t wake up in a panic attack this time.”

The realization soon hit the older one. It was only a dream. He was not in a field; instead, he was in the car with his parents and Noya. The sun was beginning to rise in the distance and revealed wildflowers that swayed in the breeze produced by a speeding vehicle. Trees dotted the sides of the highway, still as tall and strong as they had appeared in his dream. Despite no longer being in his dream world, parts of his dream world were right in front of him in the real world. The boy with the spiked hair and bright smile was sitting right beside him. His hair was kept down for the sake of appearances in front of strangers, but the bright smile remained on his face. He wore the white shirt and black pants that was normally a part of his school uniform (something about how he managed to rip the one pair of nice pants he had so this had to do). He himself wore a pair of dark brown pants paired with a royal blue collared shirt that brought out the intensity of his eyes (Nishinoya’s words, not his own). Only one thing remained that would make the real world like his dream world: getting his service dog and bringing her home.

Asahi’s mother turned in her seat to face the two boys. “Good morning, Asahi.”

“Morning, Mom.”

“Did you have a good nap?”

He gave a soft laugh and nodded, “I believe so.”

His mother gave a tender smile in return, “Good. You needed the sleep. We practically had to drag you in the car this morning. In case you didn’t know, you’re a little hard to drag.”

“I’m only twice your size, Mom.”

“Yeah, only.”

Both Asahi and his mother shared a laugh. “Besides, Mom, it was really early when we left. Did you expect us to be wide awake?”

“Noya seemed like he was.”

“Noya also has a constant stream of energy that I can’t figure out where it comes from.”

The smaller boy laughed, “I get my energy from two sources: my awesome senpai status and the love of my awesome boyfriend.”

Now Noya and Asahi’s mom shared a laugh as Asahi’s face started to change at least three shades of red. “I-I’m right here you know!”

“Well duh, babe. That’s the point.”

And now Asahi went to burying his face into Noya’s slim shoulder. There may have been a muffled mutter that sounded a lot like “shut up”, to which the appropriate response “make me” was whispered back. Asahi might as well be trying to gouge his eye out with Noya’s shoulder   
with how hard he was pressing his face into the libero.

It was then that Asahi’s dad spoke up, “Oh leave the poor boy alone. You’re going to have him explode like an overripe tomato before we even get to Tokyo.”

“Dad, you aren’t helping.”

“I love you too, son.”

Despite the teasing from his parents and boyfriend, Asahi felt at ease. He felt safe with his family (Noya included), and the teasing bantering amongst each other helped for him to settle his nerves. His anxiety was lying dormant for now, but he knew that once they got closer to Tokyo, it would be shooting to the moon. Good thing they had two more hours in the car. That meant two more hours of listening to his mom debate with Noya about who was the better monster in Godzilla (it somehow got between Godzilla and Destroyah). Two more hours of his dad singing horribly off key to a song on the radio with Noya pausing the debate to sing along as obnoxiously off key as he could muster. Two more hours of Asahi just blissfully observing his parents and boyfriend, all while holding the hand of the one he loved.  
~~  
Those two hours passed by faster than Asahi wanted them to. Soon, he saw signs that were saying things like “Welcome to Tokyo” and advertisements for the different stores and restaurants there. The Godzilla debate (somehow won by Noya and Destroyah) was quickly ended by Noya pointing out every transmission tower and asking if it was the Sky Tree.

“Asahi. Asahi. That has got the be the Sky Tree, isn’t it?”

“I don’t think so, babe. It looks a lot like the fifteen million transmission towers we have passed   
by.”

“Maybe the Sky Tree is disguised as a transmission tower so that foreigners can’t figure out where it is.”

“We aren’t really foreigners, you know.”

“We are not Tokyoians, that’s for sure. That makes us foreigners.”

“I don’t think Tokyoian is even a word…”

“It will be now.”

“Add that to the lexicon of Yuu Nishinoya.”

Noya flashed a bright grin at him. Asahi returned a soft smile before looking down to the floorboard. The soft smile melted into a worried grimace. The nerves were beginning to shoot for the moon, just as he predicted. They were much closer to getting Nishi, much closer to his life changing forever, and the looming thought of everything changing made him very anxious. He unconsciously began to scratch at his thumb, an anxious habit he had for about a year now. Not long after he began scratching, he saw a slim hand reach out and grab the offensive scratching hand. He looked up to see Noya staring at him with concern. “Are you okay, Asahi?”

“Yeah, I’m fine.”

“Don’t lie to me.”

He gave a sigh. There was the blunt tone. Blunt tone meant confess. “I’m just nervous.”

“Why?”

Asahi looked into Noya’s lighter brown eyes and gently squeezed his hands, “Like I’ve said before, this is about to change my life forever. People will start treating me differently because of Nishi, and that scares me. I am especially terrified of the rest of the team treating me like some sort of freak because I have a service dog. Not everyone on the team knows about my anxiety in general, and it makes me worry that no one will want to be around me anymore because they’ll think I am some sort of psycho.”

The libero narrowed his eyes. “Asahi, tell me. How do you think the rest of the team sees you now? Not how your anxiety brain thinks they do, but how you think they do.”

The ace looked at their hands thoughtfully. “Well, Daichi sees me as a goofball. Suga sees me as that awkward baby bird that he has to keep under his wing.”

“That’s what he thinks of everyone except Daichi. He’s a team mom.”

“This is true. You see me as something amazing, though I can’t see how, Tanaka sees me as both a great player and a friend, and as far as I know the first years look up to me, especially Hinata.”

“Most of that is right. You know what you are missing?”

“What?”

Noya brought their hands to his lips and gently kissed Asahi’s knuckles. This made the older one blush because it was sweet, but also because his parents could see them from the rearview mirror if they looked up. “Let me tell you what you are missing. You are missing the fact that everyone, and I do mean everyone, sees you as strong. They see a guy that, despite having his own personal stuff to deal with, works hard to overcome every challenge that is thrown his way. They see the ace that dominates the court yet cares so much for every person that fights alongside him. Now tell me, will you be less of a great player with a service dog around?”

“No.”

“Will you be less of your caring self with her around?”

“No. If anything, I would probably become more caring.”

“Exactly. Would you be less strong with Nishi by your side?”

“No.”

“The way I see it, she will help to build you up even more to be even stronger than you have ever been. She will show people that you are willing to work hard to overcome the obstacles your mind puts you through, and that is inspirational. If anyone wants to talk crap about her, then they clearly aren’t meant to be there for you. We know the team. We know that they would never be hurtful to you. More than likely, they would be the ones to raise you up even more and probably kick the asses of anyone that talks shit about you or her.”

“Especially you and Tanaka.”

“You bet your sweet ass we would.”

Asahi’s face returned to being a bright shade of red at the mention of his ass even though it was not meant in any sort of provocative way. It was at this point that his mother turned back in her seat to face the two boys, “Asahi, you know your friends would never do anything to hurt you. They wouldn’t think any different of you because of Nishi.”

“I know, Mom. It’s just hard to get these thoughts out of my head that tell me otherwise.”

“I know it is, but you need to remember. Nishi is not for everyone else: she is for you. She won’t care who doesn’t like her; her focus is not on everyone else. Her focus is on you. And just as she doesn’t care who doesn’t like her, so should you not care. What matters is you two developing the relationship that you need to be a successful team. Are you understanding what I am saying?”

“Yes, Mom. I am.”

“What about me? Are you understanding me?” Noya questioned as he waved their hands in Asahi’s face to get his attention.

Asahi laughed and pressed a kiss to those clasped hands, “Yes, Noya, I am understanding you too.”

“Good! I would not be happy if you didn’t understand the wonderful words I was saying to you.”

The older gave an eye roll and pressed his lips to the younger’s. The moment was quickly interrupted by Asahi’s mother. “I understand why you didn’t want to go, but I sort of wish you had been able to go the passing off ceremony that the program does.”

Noya looked at Asahi curiously, “Why did you not want to go to the ceremony?”

“My nerves are already going to be shot. I really don’t want to add a ceremony with a large crowd staring at me on top of the mountain of nerves I already have built up.”

“Then where are we going?”

“We are going to the home of the woman who has been housing and training Nishi for the past two years.”

“Is that where we are picking up Nishi?”

“No. We are just going to her trainer’s house just to find her on the side of the road tied to a post.”

Noya gave a mock-annoyed frown. “If only the team could see how truly sarcastic you can really be.”

Asahi gave a grin to that frown and kissed his boyfriend’s forehead. “If they saw this side of me, they would think that aliens have abducted me and replaced me with a clone.”

“At least the aliens were able to perfectly clone your godlike beauty before they sent you back to Earth.”

Asahi let go of Noya’s hands and curled to bury his face in his lap, arms encircling his head. The next half hour was spent with Noya attempting to pry Asahi’s arms away from the turtle position to no avail.  
~~

The trainer’s home was on the outskirts of town. It was just enough out of town to where she could have a larger property for dogs, but it was close enough to where she could go out and do things. Puppies could be seen playing in the backyard; their joyful barks filling up the air. As they approached the house and parked, Asahi began to tighten his grip on Noya’s hand.

“This is it, Noya. This is when everything changes.”

Noya gave Asahi’s hand a gentle squeeze, “But it changes for the better. Hey. I have a question. What is the trainer’s name?”

“Shinobu Nakamura. I think you will like her.”

“My hope is that she likes me.”

“I’m pretty sure she will.”

Everyone got out of the car and went to the door. With Noya’s hand in one hand, Asahi knocked with the opposite hand. While waiting, he couldn’t help but rub his thumb over the smaller one’s nervously. The other responded with another gentle squeeze. The door opened to reveal a woman standing on the other side. She was about the same size and age as Asahi’s mom, but her long black hair was pulled up into a topknot bun. She didn’t wear any makeup, but her brown eyes were reminiscent of a deer’s. She immediately wrapped her arms around Asahi.

“Asahi-chan! It is so good to see you again.”

Asahi wrapped his free arm around her, “It is good to see you as well, Shinobu-san.”

She moved to hug each of his parents, greeting them in a similar fashion. Her attention then went to the boy that was holding Asahi’s hand. She gave a big smile. “Is this the lucky guy I’ve heard a lot about?”

Asahi blushed deeply but nodded.

Even Noya’s cheeks lightly flushed as he reached his hand out to her. “It is nice to meet you, Nakamura-san.”

The woman ignored his hand to wrap the thinner boy in a hug. “You can call me Shinobu-san. I don’t need the formality of Nakamura-san. That’s my mother anyway.” She let go of Noya and moved out of the way of the door, “Please come in. Nishi is so excited to see you.”

As the family stepped inside, Noya couldn’t help but look around. “Where is she?”

Shinobu smiled as she closed the door behind, “I thought I would have her in a down stay until her dad calls for her to come to him,” she then looked to Asahi, “She is waiting in the kitchen for you. Call to her.”

Asahi gave a soft smile and let go of Noya’s hand. He turned himself in the direction of the kitchen and called out, “Nishi! Come!”

The room immediately filled with the sounds of claws tapping the hardwood floor and excited pants as a fluffy black dog came running towards the family. Despite the excitement, Noya was surprised to see that the fluff monster immediately sat at Asahi’s side and looked up to him like she was waiting for another command. Her tail swept the floor as it wagged back and forth with   
excitement. Asahi smiled down to her. “Aaaand, release!”

With that word said, the fluff butt immediately went to jumping on him. He knelt so she could reach his face and laughed at the kisses. “Yes, Nishi, good girl. I missed you too, yeah.”

Noya gave a big smile, “So this is the pretty lady I’ve been hearing about for a while.”

Asahi looked to his boyfriend with a big smile of his own. “Yep. Noya, this is Nishi.” He then looked to the excited ball of fluff and pointed to Noya, “Go say hi.”

The black dog then went barreling into Noya, knocking him down in the process. He fell to the floor and looked to see a pink, slobbery tongue licking his face. He was laughing while Asahi was fretting.

“Oh my god, Noya, are you okay? I am so sorry. Nishi tends to be very excited about greeting new people when she is allowed to. Plus, she is used to my size so she tends to tackle people because she knows I can handle it but sometimes doesn’t realize that not everyone is the same size as me. Oh my god, I’m sorry.”

The smaller libero laughed and pushed past the pup to sit before allowing her back on his lap for more pets and snuggles. “Asahi, it’s fine. I’ve been hit by way worse than a sweet dog. This is the best thing to be hit with ever,” He then looked to Shinobu with a curious expression, “What   
breed is she? I’ve mainly seen a lot of Shibas, and she definitely doesn’t look like a Shiba.”

The woman smiled at the two on the floor, “You are right, she isn’t a Shiba. With Asahi’s size, a Shiba would not have been large enough for him for DPT.”

Noya raised his eyebrow in confusion before Asahi nudged him, “DPT is deep pressure therapy. That means Nishi uses her body weight on me to calm me down.”

“Ah, gotcha.” He looked back to Shinobu, “Anyway.”

“Anyway, Nishi is a labradoodle, a mix between a Labrador retriever and a poodle. This combination of dogs gives us a dog that is lovable, smart, and willing to please. Most importantly, she was the size that Asahi needed. Size was the most difficult challenge when it came to finding him a dog. Poor baby is about the size of a tree.”

“Gee thanks, Shinobu-san.”

“Anytime, Asahi-chan. Though you weren’t as big as you are now when I met you two years ago, I knew that you still had some growing to do, so I had to make sure to find a dog that would best suit your needs and be the right size that you needed for DPT and alerts.”

Noya again looked to Asahi, “Alerts?”

Asahi sat on the floor next to his boyfriend and began to rub Nishi’s belly, “You know how I have these anxious fidget habits that I do without thinking about it?”

“Like scratching your hand and biting your fingers?”

“Yeah, just like that. Nishi is trained to alert me to these behaviors, meaning that if she sees me scratching or biting, she will either hit me with her paw or even jump up to me to let me know that I am doing a behavior that I shouldn’t. The alert will let me know that I am doing the behavior, and that Nishi is available for me to focus my anxious energy on, whether it be by petting her or brushing or what have you.”

Noya nodded as he listened, “Okay, I see. So she basically tells you to stop and do something that is healthier?”

“Exactly.”

The libero smiled and looked down to the fluff mass in his lap to give her scritches behind her ears, “Wow. There’s so much that she does that I just don’t understand how.”

Asahi smiled and planted a small kiss to Noya’s head, “I’ll explain everything to you as we go. After all, you are just as much a part of my life as she will be, and I definitely plan to keep both of you in my life.”

Noya shot his head up to look at Asahi with a surprised expression. It was not easy to surprise him in any way, but Asahi talking about a future with him was surprising. He knew that the ace didn’t really like to talk about future plans because he feared them falling apart and/or feared that other people involved in these plans would react negatively to them. The fact that he stated that he wanted both Noya and Nishi in his life made butterflies race in his stomach. It was a good thing that the adults had went into the kitchen to discuss Nishi while all of this was going on. Now it was Noya’s turn to give a blush and to bury his head into Asahi’s shoulder.

“Dammit, baby, how are you able to do this to me?”

Asahi softly laughed and gave him a gentle kiss on the head, “Because you love me as much as I love you.”

“But where did this sudden confidence in future plans come from? You are usually afraid to ever discuss them.”

“Honestly, I’m not sure where it came from. I guess with having my boyfriend at my side and my service dog in our laps, it just felt right.”

Noya lifted his head to lock eyes with his ace, the red blush still across his face. He then moved   
to pull Asahi’s head down to his and lock him in a loving kiss.

Yep. So glad the adults were not seeing this.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for reading this fan fic. This means so much to me personally. Like Asahi, I have anxiety, and I am in the process of getting a psychiatric service dog. If you are on that journey as well, don't give up! It's a hard road, but it is worth it. If you ever need someone to talk to, please message me. I hope you have an awesome day, and I will see you in the next chapter.


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